I am enjoying getting some nights off from working this autumn and although strictly speaking I was gigging tonight, it didn't really feel like work. I was providing some support for my friends
6 Day Riot who were launching their new album at the Jazz Cafe in Camden. Comedy and music don't always go together well, but I had had a lot of fun
the last time I'd gigged with them (the same day I had had that rather magical experience at Ingfield school - unbelievably almost 3 years ago), when I'd been able to try out more story based stuff. So I hoped I could read some of my childhood stories and teenage poems and be a bit more lyrical, but this time the audience were standing and chatting at the bar, so I needed to concentrate mainly on just doing some gags. It went as well as I could have expected in the circumstances, but everyone, including me, was really there for the band, who did not disappoint. I had the luxury of watching the gig from the balcony above and it was a delight to see such talented entertainers at work. In a world that seems to seek to reward the karaoke end of the musical spectrum it is gratifying to see that there are people out there who can write songs, play instruments and sing this well. Three years ago I predicted big things for this band and if there is any justice that should still hold true, but it got me thinking of all those people out there who have the talent and don't necessarily get the breaks. But also about whether that was important. The 250 people watching this band knew they were seeing something special and the evening was an end in itself. There doesn't have to be 10,000 people there and you don't have to be entertained by millionaires. Entertainment is a peripheral and throw away thing in some ways, and yet has such important in our lives. Sometimes it is only in watching other people that I appreciate how lucky I am to have the job I do. The people in the crowd had been working all day and this was their reward and that in itself is enough.
I had been reading a book about Charlie Chaplin earlier in the day and whilst his is a name that will be known still in hundreds of years, it also listed some of his contemporary music hall acts, none of whom I had heard of at all. That is the nature of the business - even big stars are usually soon forgotten - it's not about the long term, it's about the moment in time and the memory and the pleasure. There is nothing wrong and indeed very much right about trying to entertain people. You can do that in surprising and inventive ways, as 6 Day Riot surely do, but there's nothing better than producing joy for an hour or so on a freezing cold night, on a day where police sirens have been blaring and idiots have been chucking fire extinguishers off of roofs.
I found myself returning to the thought (as I much too often do) that everyone in this room would one day be dead, but in a positive way, because right now we were alive and having fun and feeding off the joy of the music. So often I have used my time on stage to create confusion or annoyance or anger or ugliness and it made me feel like creating something that would only spread happiness, whilst still being fresh and original.
I mean, I probably won't. It's much easier to slag people off and try and subvert the form and irritate people. But I love how watching people do something that is nothing like what I myself do can inspire me.
And maybe a lot of it is to do with that weight being off my shoulders and the fact that my work, for the moment, is kind of done. I was out enjoying something, not having to dash home to get to bed or write some stupid script. Think I have forgotten about having fun myself and so maybe I, more than anyone, immersed myself in the music to escape the monotony of my work. I must have more fun.
Earlier Collings and me had recorded
Podcast 139 and then I had been interviewed by a Dutch journalist (as Hitler Moustache is being released in Holland). It's not like I am putting my feet up, but the pressure is certainly off. I think the podcast went OK. At least Collings didn't have that mad look in his eye that made me fear for my own anal virginity.
And good news if you were foolish enough to buy Hitler Moustache from someone other than go faster stripe. You can now buy that
exclusive third disc on its own for just £8. It's packed with extras and an exclusive Collings and Herrin video podcast, so that's a snip at that price. Or you can buy all three discs together here.
And if you don't fancy any of that, then why not buy 6 Day Riot's new album. I don't think you'll be disappointed. But you might be if you only like Heavy Metal or whatever.
